A red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) has been a regular presence along Crestmont Drive this spring, using a utility pole and several fence posts as hunting perches. Multiple residents have photographed it over the past several weeks.
Red-tailed hawks are the most common large hawk in North America, but seeing one at close range remains a striking experience. Their plumage is highly variable, but the rusty-red tail that gives them their name is diagnostic in adults. They hunt primarily small mammals — ground squirrels, gophers, voles — and are highly effective hunters in the kind of edge habitat that exists between the neighborhood's gardens and the open slopes below Sutro.
A second raptor — possibly a Cooper's hawk — has also been reported chasing smaller birds through the upper streets. Cooper's hawks are accipters, built for agile flight through trees, and are responsible for many of the dramatic aerial pursuits seen in urban neighborhoods with mature trees.
Spring and early summer are the best times for hawk watching in Forest Knolls, as birds are actively hunting to feed nestlings and juveniles are beginning to disperse from natal territories. Early morning, from roughly 7–10am, offers the highest activity.